Green Line LRT

[John21]

My southbound Blue Line train was 5 minutes late today. Thanks, Green Line!

[Chava]

24 minutes from TFS to East Bank. The 50 smoked that time consistently. Patience, right?

[mulad]

Yeah, though the 50 has never carried this many passengers either. Metro Transit reported 33,000 rides as of 5 pm (7 hours in service): https://twitter.com/MetroTransitMN/stat ... 8545865728

[talindsay]

Yeah, though the 50 has never carried this many passengers either. Metro Transit reported 33,000 rides as of 5 pm (7 hours in service): https://twitter.com/MetroTransitMN/stat ... 8545865728

I'm sure the blue line has exceeded that number in a 24 hour period, and ridership tonight may not be high enough to make it a record day, but that must be a day hours record for a single line for metro transit, no?

[Chava]

So that justifies the slower travel time?

[Chava]

Yeah, though the 50 has never carried this many passengers either. Metro Transit reported 33,000 rides as of 5 pm (7 hours in service): https://twitter.com/MetroTransitMN/stat ... 8545865728

This train is certainly packed with curious people like myself. Totally expected it to be super popular
. Hopefully the weekday numbers blow beyond projections as well.

[talindsay]

So i noticed that they were also running "green line" buses today, and they were almost empty. Anybody know why they were running?

[Chava]

Rode end to end in one hour, 7 minutes. TFS to SPUD. Time to grab some beers and stop being a transit dude!

[mulad]

The Green Line buses are there for two big reasons: providing service in the morning before trains started running, and excess capacity if/when trains get overcrowded.

[woofner]

Going back to my post about how Minneapolis is officially opposing signal preemption for Bottineau. You guys should contact your electeds and demand that the signals prioritize transit, actively if possible but at the least through timing. Believe me, they get plenty of calls from people who missed the first 5 minutes of Dancing with the Stars because of that damn train. But it's ludicrous that policymakers are so spineless and/or logic-deficient that they spend a billion dollars on a transit line and still make it wait for some slugbeast who is driving to the corner store to get a can of diet coke. What are we, a less-mutant Cleveland?

[FISHMANPET]

Stayed away from festivities because I hate people and fun, but I did get this in the mail today:

[at40man]

Rode end to end in one hour, 7 minutes. TFS to SPUD. Time to grab some beers and stop being a transit dude!

I was on the third train to leave SPUD for TFS. We were roughly within the posted travel times.

I did notice a few hiccups, however, with the indicators int he train. As we pulled into St Paul Central Station, an erroneous announcement said that it was the final stop of the line, and to please deboard. I also observed a few of the station stops on the destination signage did not get updated when we pulled into the respective stations.

Also, signal pre-emption please! It won't shake the perception as being "slow" when it gets treated like a second-class citizen compared to the cars on the street.

Several of us on the train got a kick out of the lone protestor at the Victoria stop. Strib is reporting a dozen protestors, but we only saw one that was visible from the tracks. Pretty-freaking-hilarious.

[Chava]

Also, signal pre-emption please! It won't shake the perception as being "slow" when it gets treated like a second-class citizen compared to the cars on the street.

.

Yeah, the amount of time I spent waiting for signals and at intersections was just ugh. I kept seeing cars zoom by, in the rain. It was like the Inbound Blue Line from Ohare roles were reversed. Trains stuck in traffic, while cars zoom by. A tough pill to swallow, for me anyway.

I am hoping, and thinking that with time, it may work itself out.

[mulad]

Several of us on the train got a kick out of the lone protestor at the Victoria stop. Strib is reporting a dozen protestors, but we only saw one that was visible from the tracks. Pretty-freaking-hilarious.

They got a little airtime on WCCO at 6 pm (and I think KSTP too). I count 11 in this WCCO clip, though who knows how long any of them stuck around:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/06/1 ... lebration/

Also note the use of an old version of the Green Line station map, which didn't include the Hamline, Victoria, or Western stations. I mean, it was over 5 years ago that those were decided to be included, wasn't it?

I just saw their 10 pm clip, which still said the Green Line had racked up 15,000 rides, even though Metro Transit reported 45,000 by 7 pm: https://twitter.com/MetroTransitMN/stat ... 7009756161

Kind of makes me wonder if the old 30,000 number that was quoted for the Hiawatha Line opening was accurate or not. That generally felt more crowded to me, though they were only able to run 2-car trains at the time. Just based on the fact that the Green Line trains are 3 cars long, I had been expecting about 45k for opening day, so it's nice that it appears to be going even higher than that.

[Minnekid]

The issue with the signals is that it's like half priority. It seems that the signals attempt to change for the train but since it changes late often times the train slows Down even when not necessary. So let alone it has to stop sometimes, it is going 10 mph instead of the 20-30 it goes in between long lights.

[seanrichardryan]

Stayed away from festivities because I hate people and fun, but I did get this in the mail today:

Oh dear. That station clip-art is almost as bad as your manicure.

[LRV Op Dude]

About the destinations signs, I would suggest that you contact Metro Transit and give them feedback. Maybe they will keep the Downtown St Paul and MSP.

As far as the bar signal, please be patient. The operators are just as frustrated? I know I am. We are being told that it is a work in progress.

Did anyone hear any announcement on platform announcing arriving train? How about downtown, was there announcement for the BLue Line and Green Line trains?

[nate]

I rode from Lexington to DT St Paul and back. At top speed, the trains go much faster than I expected. Seems like 45 mph or so. Enough to easily outpace car traffic. Of course, it had to wait at every single major intersection....Victoria, a Dale, Western, and Rice....so the cars caught back up. Once the signaling issues are worked out (god I hope they get worked out) we're going to be cooking with gas, though.

[talindsay]

That's a good observation Nate, they do go faster than i expected at top speed. Also, having ridden on four trains yesterday, i do think it may be driver dependent - the more confident drivers can make the trip a lot more quickly, i think. My guess is that former 50 drivers can do it faster than former Hiawatha drivers - the Hiawatha line involves very little situational assessment by the driver whereas this is very similar to the bus line it replaces.

[IllogicalJake]

About the destinations signs, I would suggest that you contact Metro Transit and give them feedback. Maybe they will keep the Downtown St Paul and MSP.

As far as the bar signal, please be patient. The operators are just as frustrated? I know I am. We are being told that it is a work in progress.

Did anyone hear any announcement on platform announcing arriving train? How about downtown, was there announcement for the BLue Line and Green Line trains?

Announcements for Blue Line, Green Line, and Out of Service trains have been going for the past week or so downtown, on and off. I hope they become permanent, and not just stop like they have in the past. Granted, I wish NexTrip would start for the trains, too...